Saturday, 7 June 2014

Joined up thinking here

Vodafone, one of the world's largest mobile phone groups, has revealed the existence of secret wires that allow government agencies to listen to all conversations on its networks, saying they are widely used in some of the 29 countries in which it operates in Europe and beyond.

The company has broken its silence on government surveillance in order to push back against the increasingly widespread use of phone and broadband networks to spy on citizens, and will publish its first Law Enforcement Disclosure Report on Friday. At 40,000 words, it is the most comprehensive survey yet of how governments monitor the conversations and whereabouts of their people.

There probably isn't anything there that people didn't already suspect and this just confirms it. Perhaps more interesting though is the reaction below the line. Here's a selection:

Private Eye reporting they'd not only dodged paying tax, but had just landed themselves with a tax-refund from HMRC.

Heaven forbid they might even pay some tax next!

So Vodaclone don't pay normal taxes... erm sorry I mean.... pay their taxes according to law and they provide access to our communications to the rich and powerful..

Would this be the same Vodafone let off a £6 billion tax bill by HMRC under Dave"thanks for the hospitality"Hartnett?

Vodaphone, probably the worlds biggest Tax Dodger...

etc.

So the same people outraged by state surveillance are outraged that a company isn't paying taxes that fund state surveillance. Idiots.